Red, Like Dragon's Scales
by vifetoile89
Summary: A series of short Merricup stories. In the seventh, a secret is out at Hogwarts - a vicious, fire-breathing, flying secret - and Merida won't let Hiccup face the consequences alone.
1. Treasure

Red, Like Dragon Scales

Merricup Week Stories

By Vifetoile

Explanation: in mid-May, timebenderss and compeltely-twitterpated hosted the first ever "Jackunzel Week," followed by "Merricup Week," on tumblr. Check it out on jackunzel-mericcup-week dot tumblr dotty com . I was proud of what I wrote for this week, so I decided I would share it (about a month later) with my readers. This is what happens when one gets involved with the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons crowd - creative madness!

Meta-Disclaimer: I don't own Brave. I don't own How To Train Your Dragon. I don't own Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons. I don't own the or Hogwarts; I'm not even sure how to spell this ship name (Merricup or Mericcup?) ... or _anything._ Just enjoy what I cobbled together from pre-existing material, and feel free to review!

**One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure**

(_Heavily inspired by Disney's Beauty and the Beast.)_

She had been working on that pendant in her spare time for months. He'd seen her bent over it, whittling with the utmost precision to bring the three overlapping bears even more to life. It was a redemption, in its small way – a pendant of wood to make up for the medallion she had traded away to the Witch.

So why was she giving it to him?

"Why are you giving this to me?" Hiccup asked.

Merida gave a short laugh, and now that he listened, he could hear the anxiety in it. "Oh, come on, I need a reason to give my best—my friend a gift?" She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"You've been working on that pendant since the day I met you. It's your family's crest—"

"Aye!" Her blue eyes brightened up, as if she'd hit on a sudden inspiration. "My family's crest. And as long as ye have it, it's like ye're part of my family, ye ken? So as long as ye keep it, the Vikings and the Clans cannae go to war."

'_That makes sense_.' A part of Hiccup's mind filed that away as a sensible answer, as the two teens had been working for a peace between their people, to seemingly no avail – but Hiccup guessed that something else was off.

"Thank you… but, Merida, you could make another pendant. One for me, and one for—"

She made an impatient _tsk_ noise. She stepped forward, so that her cloud of red hair threatened to engulf him, and put her arms around his neck. This was in and of itself an effective way of halting Hiccup's rational thought processes, but she was only closing the leather cord behind his neck.

"There." She rested her hands on his shoulders, a minute more than necessary. Her palms lay against the bare skin of his back, making him come out in goosebumps all over. And he could feel the tension in her archer's fingers, ready for – What? He desperately wanted to know, but she stepped back, letting him go. She gave him a small smile. "Now ye'll always have a way to look back, and… remember me."

She was hiding something, but he didn't know what to say to get her to share it. Part of it was because, after all, they still hadn't known each other that long; part of it was because he was still electrified from that touch. He reached out and took a lock of her hair in hand, pulling it over her shoulder, and said the first thing that came to mind. "I could never forget you."

She blushed. "Go on, then. To the castle. Toothless will be waitin' for ye."

"And what about you?"

"I've got Angus to worry about, haven't I?" She tossed her head. "I'll be along."

Hiccup turned and hurried out of the forest clearing, and the circle of mushrooms. He turned back and Merida was still standing in the clearing, her hair shining in the sunlight. He gave her a wave – '_Hurry up and find your horse!_' – and she waved back.

Hiccup found Toothless, they flew back to the castle. The sun was completely set and the stars were out before Angus arrived at the castle gates. The massive horse's saddle was on, but he bore no rider. And that was when Hiccup knew something was wrong.


	2. Time in Nightmares

**Against the Clock**

_(Inspired by a heartbreaking gifset from timebenderss.)_

Merida had lost track of time.

Time is fluid in nightmares – it rushes past to push the dreamer to the very worst parts, then it slows down so that every moment is agonized paralysis – then it loops back in around itself to start again. So had the time been when Merida faced Mor'du, in the standing stones, lit by torches that no hands held. She screamed to a mother that wasn't there anymore. Just as the terror reached its height, it began again, over and over, and she lost track of time until the iteration came when she _knew_ that this would be the last, this time Mor'du's jaws would close over her head and crush her skull, and Mother wasn't there to save her, and all time would finally stop, and Merida was consumed by fear—

And then she closed her eyes –

And when she opened them again, she was on a dragon's back. It was night. She was leaning against a bearskin vest, and the wind was cold against her skin. She wanted to wake up – the cold and the wind were trying to wake her up – but it felt so nice, just for once, to lean against another and let them worry about time and how to spend it. Mor'du was nowhere in sight. She was safe.

She closed her eyes –

And when she opened them again, the dragon and rider were lowering her onto enameled tiles, cold against her skin. She tried to focus on the people above her. The air was full of hummingbirds—

"Take care of her, all right? Tell Tooth—"

"Hiccup?" Merida whispered.

Hiccup looked at her, and knelt, cupping her head in his hands. Over his shoulder, Toothless keened slightly. "Merida…"

She had never seen him look like this, never seen him look so heartbroken. His eyes were fixed on her.

"I'm sorry." He laid her head down on the tiles gently, caressing her cheek one last time –

Her eyes fluttered open and shut –

She saw him run to the edge of the platform and hop on Toothless, and they took off… But that wasn't right, that couldn't be, because Toothless had…

She opened her eyes.

She was lying on a bed, under a comforter stuffed with feathers. She was staring at the clock that was set into the ceiling. It was a clock of Toothiana's own invention and design, and Merida had never learned to read it. It was a vast circle, its circumference the width of Merida's extended arms, and the colors and symbols on it were as bright as jewels. They made her head ache.

It sounded like a bizarre heartbeat, grinding out seconds, then minutes. Its chimes and ticks and tocks went well with the constant fluttering noises of the thousands of fairies in the great palace of Toothiana. Merida focused on that, focusing herself to count the seconds, one by one, until her mind was clear and she was certain that time was flowing just as it should. Only then could she turn her head to the right, to where Rapunzel and Toothiana were bent over her, anxious and worrying. They were full of words – assurances that she would be all right, that all was fine, that she was safe – but that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

She turned her head to the left, and saw Bunnymund leaning against a pillar.

"What happened?" she asked him.

He gave her a long, considering look. Then, sighing, he stepped towards her. His massive furred feet stepped in time with the clock of the ceiling. Toothiana was saying something about Merida not being ready, but Bunnymund raised one hand. "She's a warrior. And she's ready when she hears it."

"When I hear what?" Merida struggled to sit up. She couldn't remember having ever felt so exhausted. Her throat felt raw – how much had she screamed yesterday?

Bunnymund sat next to her and looked her steadily in the eyes. And he told her.

She had been captured by Pitch on the "Rescue Toothless" mission – which had failed. She had been held captive for a day before Hiccup ventured into Pitch's realm alone. During that time, Pitch had tortured her by forcing her to live through her worst memory, over and over, and when Hiccup arrived, he had been forced to watch. He had eventually begged Pitch to stop, saying, "I'll do anything."

Pitch had accepted this extremely vague promise. Merida was freed, on the condition that Hiccup join Toothless in Pitch' s service. He had joined his Night Fury to make one last flight under his own free will: to return Merida to the Tooth Fairy's palace, where she would be safe. And then, he had departed.

The clock ticked, and ticked, and ticked out the minutes. Merida stared ahead, even when Bunnymund moved away, until she heard someone say, "I _told_ you she wasn't ready."

Merida's head snapped around. "Not ready?" She didn't absorb the looks of surprise she won; she just slid off of the bed and threw off the stifling comforter. She put her feet on the floor and stumbled, her head spinning. She bat aside the first hands that flew to help her, saying, "Leave me be – leave me _be_." Something in her tone made them actually stand back as she struggled to stand on her own feet. Her anger was running white-hot in her veins, boiling away everything else – her exhaustion, her raw throat, the sheer impossibility of storming Pitch's lair by herself – she was too full of anger, anger at Pitch and at Hiccup and at Bunnymund and at everyone in that palace, fairies included. And she welcomed the wrath – as long as she was angry, she couldn't be afraid, and she couldn't be sad.

She jumped when Bunnymund said her name, and nearly struck him, but he caught her hand in one paw.

"You listen to me, Merida – yes, I said listen – I know you're mad, I see it in every inch of your frame. And that's good – your passion is your greatest weapon. But you can't let it control you, see? Put it away – for now – just lock it up inside. You need to eat, you need to rest, we need to form a plan of attack. No warrior ever lasted in a battle who let their rage consume them. When the time comes, unleash hell on Pitch with my blessing. But until then, you won't be ruled by your anger – you control it yourself. Do you understand? I said, do you understand?"

Merida shook her head, because the time was getting away from her now – every minute that she waited was another minute that Hiccup fell deeper into Pitch's thrall and she couldn't let that, she couldn't – couldn't – lose him – nobody stole from Merida of DunBroch; Merida daughter of Elinor never, ever lost –

And now the worst of it, everyone was staring at her as if she were the monster, liable to explode at any minute. But the wrath was draining away now, as reality and normal time set in. And this was a nightmare, wasn't it? The way that time kept slowing down and speeding up, wasn't it a nightmare?

She looked up at the clock again. It was ticking out the seconds, regular and even and steady. Time was flowing just as it should.

It was no nightmare. Hiccup was truly gone.

Merida curled up on herself, covered her face with her hands, and wept.


	3. Meet the Suitors

**Oddball**

(A/N: Unless otherwise noted, folks, all stories take place in separate universes. But don't worry! After '_Against the Clock_,' things did eventually turn out okay. How? I don't know, it's a mystery. Maybe that's a story for someone else to finish.

This story here is an AU featuring mild crossover with _Princess and the Frog_ and _Wreck-It Ralph_. Fluff and nonsense.)

"As is tradition, the firstborn of each clan may present their skills and compete, for glory and fame, and to win the hand of…"

Stoick looked to his left, and could barely repress a sigh, "my son, Hiccup."

Hiccup sat up straight – he wouldn't dare slouch on a day like today, even if all that he wanted was to curl up in a ball and roll away like an armadillo. How could have forgotten? Today was the day he was trussed up in full Viking regalia – horned hat, billowing cape he tripped over, bearskin vest, the works – and made to sit down and watch in mute horror while his whole life was decided for him, and his father picked out his bride. If he had remembered that it was today, he and Toothless, his secret best friend and daily risk to his life, would have been far away by now, flying out over the waters, never to return.

Stoick signaled to the leader of the first clan. Lord Lugh beamed proudly beneath his red mustaches, and presented his only heir, Lady Charlotte the Sweet. He listed out her many virtues and accomplishments as the lady herself came into view. She was a round-faced blonde in a humongous pink gown, and currently leaning towards her dark-skinned handmaiden and talking in what she thought was an excited whisper: "I can't _believe _it, I been waitin' so long fer the day n' it's finally here, I'm gonna be a real princess at last! Now where is this Prince?"

Hiccup gulped. At her father's signal, Charlotte rushed forward and gave an elegant, if overenthusiastic, curtsy, and scanned the thrones. The Vikings were not used to being scrutinized with such happiness. But Charlotte's face fell when she saw Hiccup. Faces usually did.

'_Sorry to disappoint… not really_,' Hiccup thought to himself. He tried to imagine Charlotte meeting Toothless and wasn't sure whether to chuckle or wince.

Charlotte hustled back into the retinue she'd arrived with, while the aged and venerable King MacKendy stepped forward. He was a diminutive man with a very large, bald head, and an impressive salmon-colored kilt. "My sinceretht apologieth," he said, lisping and twirling his hands artistically, "I, alath, have no heir of my own, but I do have a young ward, who hath been entruthed to my care for many, many yearth. She ith…" A young woman stepped up behind King MacKendy – a woman who, Hiccup could tell, impressed every single Viking in the room. Tall as a sapling, with platinum blonde hair and a stunning figure, she stood like a warrior, and regarded everyone in the room with a mistrustful eye.

'_Holy cow!_' Hiccup thought. '_She would eat me alive!'_

King MacKendy glanced at the woman, and stopped his monologue. "_Tamora!_" He said indignantly. "You're blocking – ugh!" He reached out and yanked his real ward into sight from behind the bodyguard.

"HI!" squealed Vanellope of MacKendy, a shrimp of a girl whose teal green dress was far too big for her. She waved to Hiccup. "I'm Vanellope! How old are you? Do you like racing horses?"

"Thand _thtill_, Vanellope!" King MacKendy snapped. "You're _embarrathing_ me!"

Hiccup winced. Being engaged to a hyperactive nine-year-old was a scary prospect enough, but he did feel bad for her being shackled to a guardian like that. He seemed to _loathe_ her – and probably wouldn't make a good father-in-law.

Then, the last lord stepped forward. He, too, was a king. And more than that, he was of the Four Clans that had battled the Vikings a generation ago, before Hiccup was even born. The tension between the Scotsmen and the Vikings was like the air before a thunderstorm.

Hiccup slumped in his seat. This was just a token symbol of the peace that had existed for the last twenty years only because the Vikings had decided dragons were a worthier foe than Scots. There was no way that Stoick would pick this princess for his daughter-in-law, so why even try?

_Dragons_. Hiccup tuned out the speech that the Scottish king was making, to think back on Toothless. When he married (_ugh_), his bride would move to Berk. How could he possibly keep Toothless a secret? He would have to start running his own household, and (_shudder_) siring some heirs. He wouldn't have time for Toothless, hell, he wouldn't have time for running around in the forge and inventing. This was the end of his life, the end of freedom.

"Hiccup! Pay attention!" Gobber whispered from Hiccup's left side.

So he did. He took in the number of warriors that the Scottish clan had brought. He also noticed that, unlike MacKendy and Lugh, the king and the queen had both arrived to present their daughter. The King was a man who might have been even larger than Stoick the Vast, even if his beard was not so impressive. The Queen was the epitome of sternness and grace, with long brown hair that reached to her knees, even wrapped. She pushed forward her daughter, who gave a stiff curtsy. The girl looked pretty in a blue dress and white wimple, but she didn't smile. Instead she coolly looked at Stoick, not as a maiden should regard the king of a rival clan, but as a fellow warrior sizing up the competition.

'_Wait for it, it'll turn out _she's_ the bodyguard, too_,' Hiccup thought. But the princess looked too much like the royals for that to be likely. He found himself wondering if her hair was brown and as long as her mother's – and if so, how on earth had it gotten crammed into that wimple?

Then she looked at him. Her eyes were sky-blue, and in her gaze was defiance. He was sure that she was thinking, '_I don't want to be here_.'

Hiccup shrugged, not breaking eye contact. '_Neither do I_.'

She raised an eyebrow at him.

Hiccup pointedly looked at the nearest window, then back at her. '_I'd rather be outside_.'

She glanced down, and he saw her clasp her hands, pull her right hand back, then open her fingers, like she was firing an arrow. '_I'd rather be shooting targets_.'

So she _was_ a warrior. He kept looking at her, but he wasn't sure where to go from there. He wanted to ask her name – Odin's bones, he'd missed her name, hadn't he? Now her mother was listing out her many accomplishments but not saying her name. Something of DunBroch.

He was afraid to look away from her, lest she suddenly change when he wasn't looking into someone… well… less interesting.

She stuck out her tongue at him. He sat up a little straighter, astounded at her nerve, and gave her a mock snarl. She snarled back, with a sneer that would have done Toothless proud. So Hiccup made the face that even scared Toothless—

_"Hiccup!_" Gobber whispered fiercely.

Everyone in the hall was staring at him and his grimace. The princess in blue, meanwhile, looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh.

Hiccup sat back, bowed his head, and forced himself – again – to play the loyal and dependable chieftain's son. Who would marry whomever his father picked.

He looked up at the Scottish girl again. She was giving him a smile that mingled apology and amusement: '_Sorry to embarrass you, but that was really funny_.'

He scowled at her – but a part of his brain figured that Toothless would have laughed, too. Then he was quick to imagine, if Toothless met this princess – they might not hate each other on sight.

Huh. It was a thought.

Hiccup glanced up at his father, who had moved on to the matter of that night's ball – groaned inwardly – and then looked at the princess in blue again. She was looking ahead, every inch the dutiful daughter – except that she had pulled a lock of hair out of her wimple. The curl tumbled past her eyes, and it was _red_ – red as fire or dragon's scales. And Hiccup, staring at the lifelong enemy of his clan, felt his world tilting.

The girl caught his eye again, and winked.


	4. Best of Both Worlds

**Best of Both Worlds**

(A Hogwarts AU. Most Hogwarts AUs put Hiccup in Hufflepuff, but that doesn't fit for me at all. I prefer to see him as a Ravenclaw, and not just because that's my House. Toothless doesn't feature in this story, but rest assured, he's romping around the Forbidden Forest, probably hunting sanctimonious centaurs. I don't own Hogwarts and I never have. But lord knows I've made use of it.)

* * *

"If my calculations are correct, this place has the best chances of both catching the signal and having low enough magic levels to not interfere with my electronics. I mean, how much magic do we even _use_ in Astronomy? '_Lumos_'?"

"And magic on the telescopes," said Merida. She was leaning against the door to the Astronomy Tower, keeping watch. Hiccup was bent over a small television set, fiddling with the dials and antennae, and occasionally greasing the wires with an oily potion. They were on the westernmost tower, and the last of the sunset light picked up the red of Merida's hair and scarf, while blotting Hiccup's Ravenclaw scarf to a peculiar purple. "I'm still impressed ye managed to get all the pieces," Merida said.

"Gobber – that's my dad's best friend – mailed them to me over the last few months. He's a mechanic, handyman, computer programmer – you name it, he can do it."

"Except magic." Hiccup glared at her. He hadn't known a single wizard before his Hogwarts letter had arrived, while Merida's family was pureblooded almost as far back as the founding of Hogwarts. She grinned. "No, really, I'm very impressed. I've never seen a proper television before, but always hankered after one. Seems so much more fun than an ol' radio."

"You'll be even more impressed if it works," Hiccup grumbled. He attached the last wire to a set of potato batteries – the only electricity generators guaranteed to not go haywire in Hogwarts' magic field. But these were Rapunzel's very best Demeter potatoes, and each was about the size of a pumpkin. Sparks fluttered around them and their wires. "C'mon," he urged them. "Work!"

"So what makes this television program we're going to watch tonight so great anyway?"

"It's not just a program. It's a movie - it's a philosophy. It's a way of life."

"What?" Merida glanced to the door, as if contemplating a getaway. "It's not in Latin, is it?"

"No, I was exaggerating. It's... it's a movie. The first of three. The others will be on tomorrow and Sunday night."

"An' what makes them so special?"

"They meant a whole lot to me growing up. I mean, don't get me wrong, the wizarding world is great, but there's stuff in the Muggle world that you can't even compare with – like movies! And I want the best of both worlds." He glanced up and saw that Merida was giving him a wry smile.

"Now _that_ is the spirit, Hiccup. Never settle for second best. We'll make a Gryffindor of ye yet."

He looked down again, his ears going pink, and not just with the sunset. "I just want to share some of my world with you… uh, with you guys. Where's Jack and Rapunzel?"

"Rapunzel said she'd stop by the kitchens. Jack is probably late just to spite you."

"Yeah, he would be," Hiccup agreed. "What time is it?"

"Five to six."

"Perfect. Now we just pray to the gods of our choice… and…" he pressed the Power button. Merida looked around in surprise – she was hearing the faint hum of television feedback, for the first time in her life. Static filled the screen, and Hiccup cautiously pressed the Channel-Up button.

The static was replaced by the image of a trustworthy-looking man talking about car insurance.

"YES!" Hiccup cried, jumping up. "It works!"

His voice echoed over the campus, and he clapped his hands over his mouth. Merida laughed. "Good on ye, Hiccup! Ye really did it. How do they get the little man in the screen there?"

"I've explained it to you a dozen times, you just weren't listening before." He was already changing channels, looking for the movie one.

"It wasn't working before. Hiccup, ye really are something else. Even me mum would be impressed with this."

He beamed. "Thank you! I just hope the others get here soon. Aha! Here we are. Come over here."

Merida sat down very close to him in front of the screen. "Did ye think to cast any Cushioning Charms?"

"Huh? No…"

"And ye call yourself a flier. Ye think anyone could stand to sit on a broomstick without a good Charm or three in place?" She took out her wand and cast the spells, while Hiccup looked over the ramparts.

"I see Rapunzel, she's running up here – and Jack's following."

"It's a good thing she's so easy to spot at a distance."

"You and her both." Hiccup got himself a shove for that.

"There. Come over here." Merida sat very close to Hiccup – very close indeed. He swallowed, and grinned. This was going to be a good night. The last commercial was replaced by blue text on black.

"Now wha' does that say?" Merida asked, as the first stars began to come out.

Hiccup cleared his throat. "'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…'"


	5. Silver Lining

Silver Linings

A/N: Good news, everyone! I've decided to continue this series beyond what I simply wrote for Merricup and Jackunzel week, so that there will be more stories forthcoming. Perhaps set in universes already seen... perhaps in new universes. (And I'll be honest, there'll probably be more Merricup stories than Jackunzel when all's told. Sssshhh...)

In the meantime, enjoy this story, a little early, inspired by gifs done by dreamberk and timebenderss. Look 'em up on Tumblr!

* * *

It started with bravery, or a show of it. It started with Hiccup looking up at Pitch and saying, "I am not afraid of you."

"No, of course not… what does a big, scary Viking have to fear from little old me?" Pitch chuckled. "But you are afraid. And your fears walk around you, they look you in the eye and call you by name…"

"What are you talking about?" It was hard to focus, the shadows were swirling around him and Toothless so thick, no matter how fast they flew.

"Oh, I could mention how you're afraid that Jack is bored by you, that Rapunzel pities you… but the one you fear the most is Merida."

"What?"

"You're afraid of how much you want her – and how much power she has over you, without even realizing it. You're afraid of the truth. Why would a girl like her ever love you – why would she look at you – when she could have Jack Frost? What are YOU, compared to a Guardian?"

Images played before Hiccup's eyes – Merida turning away from him and scowling; Merida giving her bright smile to Jack Frost, who carelessly returned it; Jack soaring on the wind, free and powerful, practically a god. And what was Hiccup next to that…?

"I'd say you're just a Viking, but no, you're not even that. You are nothing."

Toothless fell, plummeting through the sky. Only Hiccup's encouragement and will let him level out. It didn't make sense; sure, Toothless knew when Hiccup was frightened, but it wasn't like Hiccup's despair could actually weaken his dragon…

Right?

Pitch was laughing again. "Finally he realizes, his second fear, the one that leaves him the most vulnerable of all… your precious dragon, your little 'Night Fury?' Such a cute name for the 'unholy offspring of lightning and death,' – Did you never once realize its connection to me?"

No, he never had, because there was no connection, there couldn't be. His heart was hammering and Toothless was starting to act strangely. The pupils in his eyes were dilated and they only continued to dilate, black swallowing up the green, and Toothless wasn't listening to Hiccup as he called out directions. "It was a wager between myself and Thor – that I could devise a better way to shoot lightning than he could. With a little help from his silver-tongued brother, I bettered the instruction, creating a creature that left terror in its wake. And how did you ever imagine that your nightmare dragon would not recognize its true master – Pitch?"

Toothless screamed in pain, and changed. The dragon beneath Hiccup dissolved into black, swirling sand. Hiccup fell, and fell, and fell, tumbling head over heels. The sand was screaming, as if it were full of ghosts – and below them was sky, and the wind was tearing them apart. The Guardians around him were reaching for him, calling his name – but he was frozen as he fell, couldn't think, because the unthinkable had happened – Toothless had abandoned him.

Hiccup started awake. He pulled himself out of bed – and fell, unbalanced by his mismatched legs. He rolled over and groped in the dark for his peg-leg, cursing all the while. Finally he was able to stand and hobble away from the nightmare – no, the memory – that had haunted him. He left the chamber where he and Jack slept, and sat down heavily on the edge of the platform.

Even by moonlight, the palace of the Tooth Fairy was a sight to behold. The light picked out hundreds of fairies at their never-ending task. The colors of the platforms and filigree were dimmed but still visible. The palace was so high that clouds drifted through without touching it, filling the air with silver. It was like something that he might have dreamed up as a child, full of intricate beauty that only existed to be beautiful. So few things like that could survive in the Viking world.

Hiccup looked down at himself. He wasn't beautiful. He was mismatched and scrawny and broken apart. He wasn't useful. He wasn't a hero.

"I'd call you a Viking, but you aren't even that. You're nothing…"

"Hiccup?"

He turned. Merida was standing a ways behind him "I heard you talking in your sleep," she said, stepping towards him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he answered, a bit too loudly. His heart was hammering and she was the last person – "how much power she has over you" – he wanted to see right now. "My best friend – my dragon defects to the incarnation of night terrors, but I'm feeling fresh as a daisy, can't you tell?"

"Nay," she answered, a bit confused. "I cannae read yer mind, Hiccup."

He gave an angry sigh. "I was just leaving." He pulled himself to his feet and marched past her.

"And goin' where, might I ask?"

"Isn't it obvious?" 'I can't stay here. No one wants me here.' "I'm going to find Toothless."

"And do what? Tempt him back with fish?"

"I – I don't know."

"Then wait, Hiccup. Sleep the rest of the night and – "

"Sleep? While my dragon is out there in the thrall of the Nightmare King? He could be flying to the other side of the world right now! I have to go after him!"

Merida seized his wrist. "Alone?"

"Yes, alone." Hiccup tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong. "This is something I have to do by myself."

"No, it isn't. Hiccup, look around! Ye've got the Guardians, a healer, the spirit o' winter, an, an' ye have me, we're all here to help you! Ye have friends, Hiccup, ye don't have to do this alone."

"I – I don't – " he finally wrenched his hand away – "need friends! I mean, I don't deserve to have friends, if I can't – if I don't have Toothless –"

"Ye're not making any sense, Haddock, friends aren't something ye deserve or ye don't."

"Like you know! A princess who went all her life being petted and coddled – you haven't got a clue what it feels like to be an outcast and mocked and just – a pathetic weakling at everything you do!" She fell back, for once at a loss for words. "You can't possibly understand, Merida – without Toothless, I'm – I'm nothing."

She watched him walk away, shaken by what she had heard. So all of Hiccup's bravado and sarcasm was to hide this contempt for himself, that had never really gone away… she couldn't understand it. How could someone as clever and gentle and brave as Hiccup have ever…

It didn't matter. Hiccup had taken seven steps away from her and that was six too many. She said aloud, "You're not nothing." He didn't stop. She followed him as he headed towards the staircase to the mountain. "Could nothing have repaired North's sleigh? Could nothing have persuaded Rapunzel to leave that tower? Could nothing have held us together for this long?"

"And a fat lot of good that's done all of us! If North hadn't taken us out to that first fight, Sandman would still be here! If Rapunzel hadn't healed Toothless, he couldn't have left me! And the four of us are always at each other's throats all of the time anyway, so what difference does it make?"

He stopped. A cloud filled up the platform at that minute, obscuring his figure. He said in a choked voice, "It would have been better if none of us had met."

Merida could still see his outline, and before he could move away she stepped through the cloud and hugged him, tightly.

"Ye're not nothing, Hiccup," she said, propping her chin on his shoulder.

He struggled to get away. His heart was pounding almost as fast as hers. "You don't know what it's like – please, Merida, let me go."

"Ye think ye're the only one tha's been hurt?"

Hiccup stopped struggling.

"Ye remember the night Mother Gothel appeared and spoke to us?"

His voice was breathless. "Yes… of course I remember that."

"She tried to convince me… that I was nothing." Merida closed her eyes and remembered.

It was all too easy to summon up Gothel's pitying, overly kind face, and the honeyed tone of her voice. Who could argue with her – especially when she used paralyzing magic on Merida? The warrior princess was lying on the floor – she had never felt so weak and helpless in her life, and if it had been up to her anger, she would have leapt up and torn right through Gothel. But she was immobile and had to listen as she spoke…

"You poor, petulant child… look at how little you have become, without your toys to help you. Do you really think that Rapunzel trusts you? That Jack can stand you? That Hiccup admires you? Why would any of them want you near them? Look at yourself, Merida – a half-wild, ignorant, selfish, spoiled brat. You're a beast, plain and simple. The only thing you can do is kill. Just give it up, Princess Beast – no one will ever love you."

But that was where Gothel had made her mistake. In the depths of despair, Merida had remembered being held, and having her hair stroked, and her mother calling her "brave wee lassie," "my treasure," "little whirlwind." And she remembered that moment more clearly than she heard Gothel's words.

With that memory came others – Rapunzel's voice joining hers in song, Jack's raucous laughter at a joke she had made – and Hiccup's smile, that shyly proud look that he wore only when he looked at her. And these memories, touches, smiles, gave her the strength to resist the spell Gothel had put on her, to move again, and to crawl, arm over arm, away from him – until Hiccup and Toothless and Toothiana had arrived and taken her to safety.

She didn't know how to tell Hiccup all of this – words weren't her strong point, and they never had been. But dark magic had to be fought, and if words alone didn't work… Instead, she relaxed her hold on him, and began to sing: "A naoidhean bhig, cluinn mo ghuth…" She turned him towards her, so that as the clouds cleared away they were facing each other in the moonlight. "Mise ri d' thaobh, o mhaighdean bhan." Hiccup's face was scrunched up and looking like he was trying not to cry. She cupped her fingers around his face until he looked up at her. He gave a weak smile, and in the middle of a line, she stopped singing and kissed him. It was the first time she'd ever kissed a boy, and it was awkward and squishy and featured some unnecessary fumbling with noses – but it had the desired effect. When she broke away, Hiccup was staring in shock – and she was smiling like an idiot.

"Merida!" he whispered.

"Hiccup!" she replied.

There was a susurrus in the air, like a hundred tiny sighs.

Merida looked to one side and Hiccup looked to the other. Tiny tooth fairies were assembled around them, floating in midair like lovesick pollen. Some were swooning, most were simply smiling with a dopey look on their faces.

"What're you lot looking at?" Merida asked them, and Hiccup started to laugh. It was so infectious that Merida joined in, and then together they set out to find to a more private place.

There was still a war on – still a lost dragon to redeem, allies to cooperate with, and a kingdom or two to save – but for now, there was each other, and something beautiful and bright between them, and the silver-plated clouds rolling gently through the night air.


	6. Waiting for Tea

Waiting for Tea

This is my steampunk contribution to Merricup. I wrote out a steampunk Big Four AU plot bunny on tumblr, but pertinent to this story, all you need to know is:

Jack Frost is an automaton of steel, silver, and oil, who has stumbled his way onto Rapunzel's garden estate. Rapunzel, a girl who lives in seclusion with her mother, doesn't have the resources to repair the damaged clank, so she asked for help from her trustworthy friend, the aristocratic tomboy Merida. Merida has been slumming in the sootier parts of London, where she made the acquaintance of a prodigious orphan, named Hiccup. Hiccup and his cat, Toothless, have moved onto Merida's estate following the destruction of his workshop under mysterious circumstances, but he hasn't yet forgiven her for lying to him for so long... that said, Hiccup is definitely the best person to repair the automaton that Rapunzel has on her hands...

Disclaimer: I own nothing, yadda yadda.

* * *

Well. _This_ was awkward.

In a secluded garden estate on the outskirts of London, in a bedroom topped up with pink and white frills and knickknacks and many half-completed watercolors, there sat one boy, one girl, and one clockwork clank. The swinging door at stage left attested to the swift exit of Rapunzel, the owner of this room and the only thing that had hitherto been preventing the boy (dubbed Hiccup) and the girl (Miss Merida DunBroch, of the Edinburgh DunBrochs) from going at each other's throats.

Personally, the clank – whose name was Jack, and while you're at it he preferred to be referred to as an 'automaton' – didn't think that getting a nice pot of tea going was worth leaving him alone between two of the angriest people he'd ever met. He had already seen quite a bit of anger in his sentient life, and he wasn't eager to learn more about it.

Hiccup, however, would never show his anger for a purse of guineas: instead he concentrated, his lips pressed tight together, on the exposed arm, and the stainless steel gears within. The outer layer, textured cunningly to resemble skin, had been deeply scored by an unknown foe, and the gears and pumps within the limb had also sustained damage.

From time to time Hiccup made notes on a small pad of paper of what further supplies he would need. But Jack would still make encouraging remarks: "Oh, that's right, that's exactly right," and "You've got a real gift for this, you know." But as Hiccup continued his stony silence, Jack eventually stopped.

That only left the silence more evident for Miss Merida DunBroch, of the Edinburgh DunBrochs, to fidget in. She had regarded Jack with interest when they first met (which was a very long fifteen minutes ago), but now seemed determined not to look directly at him, if that meant looking at Hiccup as well. Now the red-headed girl had nothing to occupy herself with, and so she moved around the room, picking up Rapunzel's combs, hats, dolls, paintbrushes, sealing wax, instruments…

Hiccup put down the tweezers. "If Miss DunBroch could please put down the mandolin and stop making a nuisance of herself." His voice was perfectly level, and not friendly at all.

"Oh, was I being a distraction to you?" Miss DunBroch asked, her posh accent brought out in full force. Her fingers strummed the mandolin with greater aplomb than before.

"No, not at all, there's nothing distracting about making loud noises while other people try to work. It's not like you're emphasizing the fact that you're contributing nothing to the work at hand. And you must be really used to doing that."

"You yourself said this clockwork was too delicate. 'This is not a job for two people,' those were your _exact_ words." She crossed to Rapunzel's work desk, and picked up a wooden artist's mannequin. "What would you have me do?"

"Maybe leave us in peace, that'd be a good place to start."

She turned to him, and the color was high in her cheeks, and her blue eyes very nearly sparked. "An' ye order me around, when I'm the only one in this house as has the right to be here? Rapunzel's mother and the servants know I have the right to be here; if you're found there'll be an uproar…"

"Drop the slum accent, Miss DunBroch, it doesn't match your reticule."

Jack cried "Duck!" Hiccup ducked, and the mannequin hit Jack squarely in the face, where it did no harm, but fell stiffly to the floor.

"What is the _matter_ with you, Hiccup?" Miss DunBroch demanded, curls falling out of her already tenuous pompadour.

"There's nothing the matter with me," he said, his voice as level as ever, but now distinctly chillier than before. "I have nothing to hide."

She gave a loud, huffy sigh, and then scratched furiously at her back. "Damn this corset – damn it to hell and damn the people who make it – Hiccup, you're smart as a whip. You're just refusing to understand why I didn't arrive at your shop in Islington in a full horse-drawn carriage, with a footman and a bleeding herald!"

"Oh, I understand, I understand just fine." Jack really wished that Hiccup would at least stop pretending to repair his arm at this rate. Hiccup's voice was so cold that Jack worried he'd somehow tapped into the liquid nitrogen battery at his heart. "You're embarrassed to be seen with me, so you pretend to be poor and starving and filthy, like me, for a little weekend jaunt with no consequences, none that matter." Hiccup put down the tweezers and magnifying glass, to Jack's great relief. His voice was starting to shake. Jack wondered what that meant. Was it a new stage in anger? Or did it indicate… what was that emotion… sadness?

"I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you, Hiccup! If anything, I'm embarrassed to be seen in… _this_!"

"You just gestured to _all_ of you," Hiccup observed, most astutely.

"Tha's just it. Merida of DunBroch is a character, a costume and a terribly stupid script that Mother and Father write out for me day by day. I wanted to just be _Merida_ for a day, to just get away from all of that –"

"From all of that luxury, from all of that security, from all of that wealth and love and safety, to what? To traipse around Fleet Street, gawk at the workers, and then traipse back home?" Hiccup's eyes were wide, and very shiny.

"Don't put words in me mouth!" she snapped, and then drew a deep breath, tucking a curl behind her ear, more to calm herself than anything. "I wanted to get away from the idea that we – that people like my parents' friends – have of people like you. I wanted to see for myself, not just rely on books and pamphlets. It was supposed to be just one day. But when I first saw you – you were bent over something, a wristwatch, I think, and you had a look of such focus on you – that's why I entered your shop. I hadn't thought of building my own Sky Skimmer until that very second. But it was something I wanted to do, at once. With you. It was to be with you."

Hiccup didn't say anything.

She shook her head. "I shouldn't have lied. An' I'm sorry. I didn't ask to be born into the world I was. But I wanted…"

"You wanted to be with me?" Hiccup asked.

She nodded.

"M-Miss DunBroch…"

"Call me Merida. That's an order," she said, though the sparks had faded from her eyes. She was smiling, as close to shy as it was possible for her to get.

"Merida…" Hiccup fell back, a smile blooming on his face. He said nothing, and she said nothing, but they both just smiled at each other across the pink room. Jack glanced between the two of them, the gears in his neck creaking slightly, and then back down at his open arm.

Well. This _was_ awkward.

Right when Hiccup was about to move, or Merida was about to speak, the door opened, and Rapunzel entered like an angel of tea-time, with a capering Toothless at her feet. "I'm back! Sorry it took me so long."


	7. Dragon and Bear

A/N: And we go back to Hogwarts for this chapter! Featuring special guest stars Elinor and Toothless. Hope you enjoy and leave a review!

* * *

Merida and her mother walked through the Forbidden Forest, side by side. Afternoon light, already dusky, streamed through the trees. Merida's Gryffindor tie was all unkempt and her shirt unbuttoned, while her mother wore elegant green robes befitting a former Slytherin, and a guest lecturer. The last class bell had rung an hour ago, and that meant Elinor's lectures for the day were finished.

The two of them walked with great calm, considering they were in one of the most dangerous forests in the United Kingdom. Elinor, after a long pause, commented on it:

"You seem quite at home here."

"Oh… yeah, well, I do a lot of rummaging around here. There's lots of interesting things to see."

"Do you usually come by yourself?"

"Oh, no… well…" Merida squirmed under her mother's glare, "sometimes. But usually I'm with friends. There's Rapunzel – I'm usually guarding her back, she comes in here to collect plants and things. And Jack, you probably met him today, he's a Slytherin. He's wicked powerful." Merida waited for the reprimand, but her mother didn't seem to mind the language. She went on, "And there's Hiccup, of course."

There was a silence, the kind of silence that only Elinor could generate, where you got the sense she was understanding a lot more than was being said. "I've mentioned him in me letters home," Merida added.

"He made a Gryffindor banner for your Quidditch game, yes?"

Merida turned with surprise. "I didn't think you'd remember that!"

"Of course I do. And he's a Ravenclaw, you said?"

"Aye – it was real surprising. I, um," she tucked a lock of hair behind one ear, "didn't expect that. An' I didn't expect you to notice, either. Ye're not that fond of my Quidditch playin', an' all."

"Well," Elinor hitched up her skirt out of the moss, and spoke haltingly, "Merida, it's clear… well, you're in your fifth year now…"

"An' still not a prefect, I _know_—"

"That wasn't what I was going to say. Merida, you became Quidditch Captain remarkably young. It seems to me that's what you're really happy with. And I'm hearing of your talent and what a good captain you are from every quarter – I'm proud of you. I'm only sorry I took so long to see clear."

Merida started to grin and couldn't stop grinning. "Well, besides, there's still the triplets to follow in yer footsteps as prefects and Head Boy."

Elinor laughed. "Which one d'ye think it'll be? H—" She froze midsentence, and her head swung to the other side of the clearing, where they could hear something crashing through the underbrush – getting closer. Merida took out her wand, just before a massive black dragon burst out of the underbrush and make towards them, its eyes wide and maddened.

Merida squeezed her wand tightly, a handful of spells ramming through her brain – '_Stun, petrify, freeze, wait, will any of them even work?'_ – but before she could pick one, she heard a _pop_, felt a whoosh of air, and the ground beneath her tremble.

"Mum!" she cried, turning to face Elinor, who had vanished. In her place stood a massive brown bear, which fell to all four paws and roared out a challenge that made Merida's ears ring. The dragon paused, accepting the transformation of '_Woman_-_to-Bear_' and then '_Threat_,' and then snarled, baring his white teeth.

"Mum, please, you don't understand, this dragon is –"

Elinor reached out a massive paw and shoved Merida to the ground. When she picked up her head, she saw a fourth figure entering the fray: a scrawny boy in torn robes, running towards the dragon at full tilt – and stopping in his tracks when he saw the bear.

"Hiccup!" she yelled.

He turned. "_Merida_? What are you doing there?" He sped towards her to help her up, keeping his eyes on the dragon and bear. "And what is that – that thing?"

"_That_," Merida said, her family pride bristling, "is my mother."

Now he turned his eyes from the battle to stare at her. "Wait, _what_?"

"Mum's an Animagus!" she yelled. "Come to lecture today, or were ye not listening—"

"Elinor Macbeorn? Your mother is Elinor _Macbeorn_?"

"Oh, ye've heard of her." Merida looked back at her mother. "Now what's wrong with Toothless?"

"I was trying to treat his right forepaw—"

Elinor the bear took matters into her own hands. She drew Toothless on, dodged him, and then, like a wrestler, leapt atop him and pinned him to the ground with all of her weight. She roared to get her daughter's attention, and the attention of that scraggly ragamuffin she was talking to.

"Oh! Great, that's convenient," Hiccup said, slinging his dropped schoolbag over his shoulder and hurrying to Toothless' right forepaw.

"Thank you, Mum," Merida said, with a pointed look at Hiccup.

"Um…" Hiccup regarded the massive bear's head, and nodded, more frightened of her than of the dragon. "Merida, can I get a Freezing Charm here?"

She flicked her wand and the trembling paw was steady. With a pair of pincers, Hiccup carefully extracted a thorn from Toothless' paw webbing, and soothed it over with a potion.

"Did ye get that from Rapunzel?" she asked, watching the proceedings with great interest.

"Yes… how did you know?"

"The little flowers painted on the bottle gave it away."

"Oh, right." He carefully screwed the stopper back in. "Um… Merida… is your mother also… in the Ministry of Magic?"

She nodded. "Right up there in government." She added, "And she _can_ understand what we're saying now."

Hiccup's eyes widened. He shoved the potion back into his bag and hobbled back to his feet. The bear stood up on her hind legs again and let Toothless go. Hiccup said to the dragon, "Go, _go!_ Go now!"

The dragon, looking confused, wary, but above all tired, looked once between the bear and his human before reluctantly trotting into the woods.

Hiccup stared after him for so long that Merida wanted to ask what was wrong. But before she could, there was a _pop_ and she felt her mother's hand on her shoulder. Elinor was trembling with anger.

"Young man," she asked, "What is your name?"

"I think you heard it, ma'am," he said, without turning around. "It's Hiccup Haddock—"

"Turn around when you're speaking to me." Elinor commanded.

"Mum, don't be mad, this isn't—" Merida pleaded.

"Merida, you are not blameless here, either. So." She said, as Hiccup turned to face them. "Hiccup Haddock, was it?"

"Yes. And I'm a Mudblood," he added.

"_Hiccup!_" Merida balled her hands into fists. "Ye're nae allowed to talk like that!"

"Well, it's true!" he said to her, blood rushing into his cheeks.

"You're Muggle-born?" Elinor asked, clamping her hand more firmly on Merida's shoulder. Hiccup nodded. "Have you tamed that dragon?"

"… I've befriended him. He's not _mine_; he's just… my friend."

"And how long has this been going on?"

"Since…" he shifted uneasily. "Since October last. Hallowe'en."

"Does anyone at the school know?"

"No, no one. Except Merida."

'_And Rapunzel and Jack_,' Merida added in thought.

"Well." Elinor sighed, and her grip on Merida's shoulder lessened. "Ye sent the dragon away, I guess, because ye didn't want him to be caught by the Department of Magical Creatures. Is that right?"

He nodded.

"Well," Elinor said again. She frowned. "Ye've broken the law, Haddock – putting yerself and yer classmates into more danger than ye could imagine."

"Oh, I have quite an imagination," Hiccup countered, half under his breath.

Elinor glared at him. "I can see ye're responsible and brave towards the beast – but I'm going to have to report this. I can't let ye…"

"I understand." Hiccup said, but his voice sounded as little and lost as Merida had ever heard it, and she wanted to run between him and her mother, as she'd run between the dragon and the bear, and defend one against the other until they both saw _clear_. If she was still an irresponsible first year, she might have just managed to get away with that. But she was older now, and she had to learn to get by in her mother's world. Damn it all!

"Well, let's go," Elinor said with a sigh. Hiccup didn't move.

Merida ran to him and seized his hand. She squeezed it and his gaze started up at her in surprise.

"Ye're not going to face this alone, Hiccup," she promised. "I'm here, aye?"

"But – your mum—" Hiccup glanced to Elinor, who watched with as much interest as he.

Merida looked at her mother, and then to Hiccup with a wry smile. "Y'see, being at loggerheads with me mum is nothing new to me. Ye've got someone with real experience at yer side!"

Elinor smiled – with exasperation, affection, and maybe a bit of pride – and led the way back to the castle. And all the way to the Headmaster's office, Merida didn't once let go of Hiccup's hand.


End file.
